Elastic stocking



Se t. 24, 19 35. c. E. SOUTHWICK, JR I 2,015,508

ELASTIC STOCKING Filed May 15, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 24, 1935. c. E. SOUTHWICK, JR

ELASTIC STOCKING Filed May 15, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' M arr??? 61 C. E. SOUTHWICK, JR

4' Sheets-Sheet s Filed May 15, 1955 L .112 @m m I Aw 5 L Q; a @dIIa JII.WiIEilIE-I 2 'hfiwfi mwg m 6 J L 4 la enzzkx- 675M617 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 24, 1935. c. E. SOUTHWICK, JR

ELASTIC STOCKING Filed May l5, 1935 Patented Sept. 24, 1935 ELASTIC STOCKING Charles E. Southwick, Jr., Camden, N. 1., assignor to William H. Horn & Bro., Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation oi Pennsylvania Application May 15, 1935, Serial No. 21,676 4 Claims. (Cl. 66-189) This invention relates to knitted elastic fabrics such as those employed in the manufacture of surgical bandages for use about the abdomen, elbow, wrist, knee, ankle, or in fact for use at any place where the bandage will be subjected to bending.

The object of the present invention is to provide a bandage with a natural curvature at the bending part of the anatomy, such for example as the instep or bend of the foot; at the back of the knee; the bend of the arm at the elbow, etc.

The present invention relates specifically to an elastic stocking which may consist of a halffoot portion extending forwardly from the heel to approximately midway between the heel and the toes and a leg portion which may extend to any desired height, from a short distance above the ankle to the upper thigh.

The present invention particularly concerns the provision of a natural curvature in the stocking at the instep and/or at the back'of the knee, to provide a close smooth fit at the bend of the foot or knee and which will facilitate bending of the bandage at the instep or at the back of the knee and provide for free movement of the foot or leg without causing bulkiness or without in any way impairing the support afforded by the bandage and for which such bandages are intended.

Heretofore, bandages of the type noted have been manufactured with coursewise extending strands of elastic arranged in laterally staggered relation to each other with respect to the general plane or thickness of the fabric, within a given area or areas at the instep and/or the back of the knee, to provide a bend or bends at the instep and back'knee portions of the stocking. Such construction materially thickens the fabric and produces bulkiness and stiffness at the ankle and knee joints, due to the staggered overlapping, relationship of the elastic strands.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fabric wherein the elasticstrands at the bends noted and throughout the whole of the stocking will lie substantially in the same plane, i. e. in single thickness relation to each other, thus providing smoothness and evenness throughout the whole of the stocking and particularly within the above noted areas of the stocking; and to construct the fabric in such a manner that the strands or rubber in said areas will be maintained in closer single thickness lateral relationship to each other than in the other adjacent and/or surrounding areas of the stocking, whereby smooth natural bends will be produced in the stocking at the back of the knee and instep portion thereof.

The construction of the fabric will be fully disclosed hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings; of which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a calf-length stocking constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, with the stocking flattened in a plane extending from front to back of the stocking; 10

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the stocking shown in Fig. 1 with the stocking flattened in a plane extending from side to side of the stocking at right angles to the plane of flattening of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view dia- 15 grammatically illustrating the stitch structure at the juncture of one side and top corner of the contracted area with the adjacent normal area, and disclosing what is known in the art as a one-and-one ribbed fabric; 2

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and illustrating what is known in the art as a two-and-one ribbed fabric;

Fig. 5 is a coursewise sectional view taken on the line 5--5,'Fig. 3; 25 Fig. 6 is a coursewise sectional view taken on the line 6-6, Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a walewise sectional view taken on the line il, Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing 30 the fabric as normally contracted, with the elastic strands in the instep area in close lateral abutting relation to each other to produce a walewise foreshortening of the fabric atthe instep of the stocking and by which forward'curv- 35 ing of the lower portion of the stocking is produced.

. It will be noted that a stocking or other bandage made in accordance withthe principles of the present invention may be produced on either 40 a circular knitting machine or on a flatknitting machine. In the first instance, the bandage will be of seamless circular form composed of successive spiral courses of stitches, whereas in the latter case the article'would be produced in a 45 fiat sheet form composed of successive straight courses of stitches and having selvage edges at opposite sides of the strip, which, for the productionof circular banda es-would be subsequently joined to each other to give the article 50 circular form. 1

In either of the above cases, the successive courses of stitches would normally be of substantially equal lengths in a direction walewise of the fabric, with a rubber strand inlaid in each 55 2 2,o15,eos

or any desired number of the stitch courses, producing a fabric which would be substantially the same length at each and all of the stitch wales, consequently the article when knit in seamless form in a circular knitting machine would be in the form of a tube having a straight central axis with each wale of substantially equal length from end to end of the article walewise thereof. It will be understood that widening and/or narrowing of the tube would be formed in the usual manner by controlling the tension on the elastic thread progressively in succeeding courses at various places throughout the length of the article to pro duce, for example, a widening of the tube at the calf or upper ankle portion of the article and for narrowing the tube at the ankle and foot portions of the article. In either case, the lengths of the wales are substantially equal at allpoints around the circumference of the article.

The same effects would apply in the case of a flat knit article, that is, the fabric may be knitted under a relatively loose tension during the formation of the calf portion of the blank with the tension gradually increasing toward the ankle portion of the blank, or vice versa.

In either case, the article would have no natural bend such as is required at the instep, consequently the article would not fit the ankle and foot smoothly or comfortably and in accordance with the natural bend of the foot at the instep.

The object of the present invention is to construct the fabric within a given area such, for example, as the area at the instep in such a manher that the elastic strands will be drawn closer together and retained in a single plane within the instep area of the stocking, with the effect of foreshortening that particular area of the fabric in a direction walewise thereof and which in the finished article produces a natural smooth curvature in the single thickness fabric which will more readily adapt itself to the natural curvature of the foot and ankle at the instep.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the stocking is composed of ribbed knit fabric and comprises an upper leg portion A and a foot portion B and which from the top edge of the portion A and the lower edge of the portion B to the course lines aa and bb respectively are composed of usual successive stitch courses I, l, (see Fig. 3), each having a strand of elastic 2 laid in the fabric between the front wales 3 and the back wales 3, which are formed on different banks of needles respectively as is usual in the formation of ribbed fabric.

In the case of fiat knit fabric, the needle banks are, as is well known in the art, arranged in opposed angular relation to each other with a work slot formed therebetween, and the needles of the two banks operating in opposite directions in drawing the stitches of each or any single course.

In the case of circular knit fabric, the front wales would be knit on the cylinder needles and the back wales would be knit on the dial needles, or vice versa, depending upon the particular type of machine employed.

In any case, the stitches of the wales on one face of the fabric are connected to the stitches of the wales on the opposite face of the fabric by connecting portions 5, 5 of the thread of which the stitches on the opposite faces of the fabric are alternately composed, said connecting portions 5 passing through the fabric and assuming a more or less zig-zag formation between the opposite faces of the fabric, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 6.

Normally the elastic strands 2 are held in the fabric by the stitches 3 and i on opposite faces of the fabric respectively and between the connecting portions 5 of the thread of which said stitches of the successive courses are composed, said connecting portions 5 effecting a definite spacing of the elastic strands 2, as clearly shown in the upper and lower portions of Fig. 8 designated at A and B respectively.

Between the lowermost course aa of the top portion A and the topmost course bb of the 10 foot portion B, Fig. l, the back portion of the stocking from a wale line c-c at one side of the stocking around the back of the stocking to a corresponding wale line on the opposite side of the stocking is provided with an area C, wherein 15 the elastic strands 2 are laid in the fabric in the same manner as in the top and foot portions A and B, as above noted.

From the wale line 0-0 on the one side of the stocking to the corresponding wale line on the Z0 opposite side of the stocking, extending around the front of the stocking, the stocking is provided with an area D, wherein the elastic strands 2, 2 are drawn closer together than in the surrounding and adjacent areas A, B and C. 25

The drawing of the elastic strands 2, 2 closer together in the area D and the retaining of the strands in the single general plane of the fabric is accomplished by each of the needles which are knitting the stitch wales of one face of the fabric 30 within the area D holding a stitch of one course during the formation of the next course of stitches by the needles knitting the stitch wales of the opposite face of the fabric, without the needles which are holding the stitches taking on the 35 thread of which the next course of stitches is composed, then taking thread during the formation of the next succeeding course of stitches and casting the held stitch, whereby the one set of needles knits at only every second course, i. e. in 40 alternate courses on one face of the fabric, while the set of needles producing the stitch wales on the opposite face of the fabric are knitting in every course.

By the above procedure the wales 3 on the one face of the fabric, within the area D, are composed of elongated stitches indicated at 6, 6, Figs. 3 and 4, while the wales i on the opposite face of the fabric are composed throughout of normal length stitches l, l.

By the needles forming the wales 4 on the one face of the fabric failing to take thread during the knitting of alternate courses la, la, and taking thread during the formation of the intermediate courses lb, lb the connecting threads 5, connecting the wales 3 with the wales 3, pass through the fabric from face to face thereof during the casting of the stitches of the alternate courses la, lot, but during the casting of the stitches of the intermediate courses lb, lb the wale-connecting threads do not pass through the fabric and are held on one side of the fabric, floating coursewise across wales 3 and connecting the wales l, 6 on the one face of the fabric only, as clearly indicated at 5a, 5a, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. 65

As a result of the above procedure, the elastic strands 2, 2 within the area D are drawn together in pairs 211, see Fig. 8, and the absence of the cross threads 5, 5, between the strands of the 70 pairs 2a, 2a foreshortens the fabric walewise to the extent of the sum of the diameters of the number of missing cross threads and such foreshortening draws or contracts the front of the stocking relative to the back of the stocking to 7 an extent which produces the natural curvature ill in .the instep portion of the stocking.

The contracting of the front of the stocking within the area D reacts to place the rear area C under tension walewise of the fabric. This tension is relieved and the curvature i0 is further accentuated by the provision of a heel notch H formed in the stocking in the usual manner and which extends across the back of the stocking from a point adjacent and to the rear of the substantially central side Wale c-c at the one side of the stocking to a corresponding point at the opposite side of the stocking.

From the above, it will be clear that the curvature in the front of the stocking is smooth and in the single plane of the normal thickness of the fabric and lends itself readily to free bending movement of the foot at the ankle without any bulkiness and without causing the wearer any discomfort.

While the area D has been illustrated asbeing substantially rectangular, it will be obvious that the contour of this area may assume any desired configuration without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A knitted elastic bandage comprising successive courses of stitches forming two series of wales on opposite faces respectively of the fabric-and connected by cross threads extending through the fabric from face to face thereof at a predetermined number of said courses in one area of the fabric and at a lesser number of courses in an adjacent area of the fabric with elastic strands disposed in the fabric intermediate said face wales and secured in predetermined relation to each other in the general plane of the fabric by said cross threads, causing a walewise foreshortening of the fabric in the second named area relative to the first named area.

2. A knitted elastic bandage comprising successive courses of stitches forming two series of wales on opposite faces respectively of the fabric and connected by cross threads extending through the fabric from face to face thereof at each course in onearea of the fabric and at a lesser predetermined number of said courses in an adjacent area with elastic strands disposed in the fabricintermediate said face wales and secured in predetermined relation to each other in the general plane of the fabric by said cross threads,

causing a walewise foreshortening of the fabric in the second namedarea relative to the first named area. 7

3. A knitted elastic bandage comprising successive courses of stitches forming two series of wales on opposite faces respectively of the fabric and connected by cross threads extendin through the fabric from face to face thereof at I each course in one area of the fabric and at alternate courses only in an adjacent area with elastic strands disposed in the fabric intermediate said face wales and secured in predetermined relation to each other in the general plane of the fabric by said cross threads, causing a walewise foreshortening of the fabric in the second named area relative to the first named area.

4. A knitted elastic bandage comprising successive courses of stitches forming two series of wales on opposite faces respectively of the fabric and connected by cross threads extending through the fabric from face to face thereof at each course in one area of the fabric and at alternate courses only in an adjacent area with elastic strands disposed in the fabric intermedi-- ate said facewales in each of said courses of stitches and secured in predetermined relation to each other in the general plane of the fabric by saidcross threads, causing a walewise foreshortening of the fabric in the second named area relative to the first named area.

CHARLES E. SOUTHWICK, JR. 

